Stop drilling in Pa., 'Gasland' director says

John L. Micek

— Hundreds of citizen-activists, including "Gasland" director Josh Fox, swarmed the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, calling on lawmakers to impose a moratorium on natural gas drilling and to protect water supplies and other natural resources.

The rally, which comes three weeks before the statutory deadline to pass the state budget, also comes amid mounting pressure on lawmakers and on Gov. Tom Corbett to require the multibillion-dollar drilling industry to share some of the burden in a spending plan that makes deep cuts across almost every sector of state government.

Fox, who was nominated for, but did not win, an Academy Award for his documentary examining the booming natural gas industry, said he believes it's only a matter of time before legislators and the administration heed the calls of taxpayers in the drilling zone.

Right now activists are like "a gnat on the governor's desk — swattable, ignorable," Fox said. He compared citizen-activists to the Freedom Riders of the civil rights era who eventually forced change.

Corbett, widely criticized for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the gas industry, has steadfastly resisted calls to impose a severance tax on the gas drillers take out of the ground. The Republican has argued it would harm an industry that's reinvigorating economically struggling regions of the state.

One after the other, activists stepped to the microphone to chastise lawmakers and the administration for not doing more to safeguard the environment in the drilling zones of northeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania.

Crystal Stroud, a hairdresser from Towanda, Bradford County, said she'd suffered barium poisoning and blamed it on contamination of her well by drilling.

"Every day, I struggle with the fact that we cannot trust our government to protect us," said Stroud, 29, echoing many speakers.

Stroud said she'd suffered a variety of health problems from her illness, including slurred speech and trembling hands. Her voice broke as she spoke about the threat posed to her son. Some wept openly as she relayed her story.

"We love you, Crystal," people shouted.

At least five severance tax proposals have been introduced in the state House and Senate in the current legislative session. Corbett has said he's open to considering a local impact fee proposal sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.